


Blindspot

by iellawritestonight



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Hope you enjoy, She's adorable, You have a seeing eye dog, You're blind, or you're slowly becoming blind, this is adorable
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-08
Updated: 2018-07-30
Packaged: 2019-06-07 02:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,763
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15209147
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iellawritestonight/pseuds/iellawritestonight
Summary: Realizing that you only have so long with your sight, you decide to go on a trip around the world to see all you ever wanted. You come home only to be the victim of a robbery. Will anyone save you?





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I had this idea for someone else, but realized it wouldn’t work with the request.... then it got out of hand, so.... y’all get a bucky x reader series!! Also the disorder is called Retinitis Pigmentosa. WARNING: MENTIONS OF GUNS, HARM TO ANIMALS, THREATS, BLINDNESS, AND FIGHTING, MEDIUM CURSING, sOFT BUCKY

Having a rare condition that made you gradually go blind was scary. All your childhood doctors had chalked it up to bad eyesight and gave you huge glasses with thick lenses in order to get around. As soon as you were out of your parents house, you went to a doctor of your own and she had the decency to actually help you.

Having a rare condition that made you gradually go blind came as a surprise. The doctor had told you everything they could about the condition you had. Including the fact that there was nothing they could do to help you.

Before you had even left the doctor’s office, you had made up your mind about what to do with the rest of your time with your sight. It was already pretty bad. You weren’t able to see out of your peripheral on either side, and you often bumped into things, and bruised your legs. Anyway, you had decided to travel until you couldn’t see anymore.

After years of saving up and planning, you had finally earned enough money to go on a trip to see the sights all around the world. Well, at least Tokyo, Cairo, London, and back to New York City, but that’s all you could ever ask for.

Over the years, your sight had gotten so bad you fast-tracked learning braille, and got a seeing eye dog named Penny. You patted Penny’s back as she laid next to you on the couch. She’d been with you the last two years and had become one of your closest friends.

“This is it, Pen, we’re leaving for Japan tomorrow. Aren’t you excited?”

She barked back and you smiled, rubbing her soft fur.

“Good girl. Come on, let’s go to bed.” You instructed and Penny jumped from the couch and made her way to your room. You followed close behind. She went into your closet and took out your night clothes, tapping your leg to tell you that she had them. You bent down and took them from her, and started getting ready for bed.

You vision is blurring--or what is left of it. You had to cut your trip two weeks short, knowing that once it started to get blurry it was only a matter of time before that spot of sight was gone.

You sighed again, turned out the light, and crawled into bed, Penny resting next to you.

“Night, Pen.”

\---

You dragged your suitcase out of the door and placed it beside you. You called penny out and checked everything before you took out your keys to lock your door. You bent down and focused on trying to see the lock which was getting harder and harder by the day.

“Heading somewhere, Y/n?”

You jumped and put a hand to your heart, “Steve, you scared me.”

“Sorry, thought you heard me.” Your neighbor, Steve Rogers, apologized. The two of you lived next to each other and talked from time to time. He often helped you with groceries. You let him. There was no arguing with Captain America, and in return, you dominated him in Uno every Friday night he had off.

“Hey, Penny.” Steve greeted your dog and bent down to scratch behind her ear.

Penny, ever the loyal dog, threw out all of that loyalty when it came to Steve. You let him pet her since she wasn’t helping you at the moment.

“It’s okay.” You gestured to the lock and shook your keys. “I was too focused on the task at hand.”

“I’ll help you with that.” He said snatching the keys from you, and stepping into your blind spot to lock your door.

“Steve you don’t have to, I got it. I’m not blind yet.” You joked and turned to face him, only to catch sight of someone else in the hallway, that you had failed to see before or hear for that matter. “Oh! Hi. Sorry, I didn’t see you there.”

Now that you saw him, you couldn’t stop looking at him. He had medium length brown hair, broad shoulders, and a chiseled face. You didn’t need your full to tell he was a handsome man. You took notice that he wore a hat and a glove on one hand.

“Oh, yeah.” Steve said after locking your door. He turned back to you and the other man in the hallway. “This is my friend Bucky. Bucky, Y/n.”

Steve tapped your arm and you reached right under where your arm was to take back your keys.

You smiled, and reached your other hand out, “Nice to meet ‘ya.”

He shook your hand gingerly with his gloved one, not saying anything, but instead nodding silently. You thought his hand felt a little weird, but didn’t think anything of it.

Silence fell over the three of you. Your watch beeped, reminding you of the time. You had to leave now to make it to the airport in time.

“Well, I have to go.” Your turned and grabbed the handle on your suitcase, the two men stepping to the side to let your past, you couldn’t see either of them when they did. “I’ll be back in a week or so, Steve. Hope to see you soon, Bucky.” You turned your head a bit to see him look at you as you passed.

“Come on, Penny.” You patted your thigh and whistled. You looked back to see her sniffing who you now knew as Bucky before following you into the elevator. You waved by as the doors closed.

\---

Tokyo had been… bright to say the least. You had trouble seeing in the dark but had none at all with seeing the neon signs all around the city. Your next stop was Cairo to see the pyramids. They glistened, seeming to reflect the sun. Penny didn’t seem to like the camels in town, and they didn’t seem to like her either. You made your way to London and saw all of the touristy attractions. You stood in line for hours to get a turn on the London Eye. Penny stayed close to you once your pod on the wheel started to get higher and higher. It felt as if as soon as you landed in all of these cities, you were on a plane to the next.

By the time you got on the plane to make your way back to New York, your vision started to get darker. You knew that it’s end was near, but now was no time to be sad about it.

\---

You stood right in the middle of of Times Square, your plane had gotten in the night before and today you’d gone out again to experience your city for what might be the last time. People weaved around you, taking the hints that Penny and your walking cane provided. You’d been standing there for… you don’t know how long, and you felt that it was time to go. You lifted your arm and tapped your watch. It told you that it was 7:24--almost nighttime.

That was your queue. Even without the blurry ness and darker vision, you could never see well in the dark, and your cane and service dog, people often thought you were the perfect target for a robbery.

“Let’s go home, Penny.” You told her, whistling to get her attention. She stood and started to guide you in the direction of home.

On the way to your apartment, the sun got lower and lower until you found yourself in the dark, blocks away from the safety of your apartment. The sound of music and talking people filled your ears as you came upon the strip of bars standing between you and your apartment. You folded your cane and held it more like a makeshift weapon in case you happened upon some drunk people who wouldn’t leave you be. You wrapped your hand again around Penny’s leash, tightening it to silently tell her to stay close to you.

After a few scares that turned out to be harmless, you made it past the bar and you were only a block away from your building when Penny stopped and started to bark at nothing that you could see.

“Penny, what-” You tried to pull her along, when strong arms grabbed you and picked you up, pulling you somewhere. You screamed your head off, letting go of Penny’s leash, and your purse to beat the man holding you full force with your cane.

You reached behind you and hit as hard as you could, not trying to miss. You got a good shot to the head in and he threw you to the ground. You scrambled to get up and stopped when you heard a gun cocking. You dropped your cane and put your hands up. Listening intently to try to figure out how far away he was from you.

All you could hear was Penny still barking her head off.

“Shut your dog up, lady!” The burglar screamed at you.

You hesitated, if you shut her up, no one would know that you were in this--presumably--alley, “...Penny…” 

“Shut it up!” He screamed louder and you yelped.

“Penny, hush!” You commanded. She didn’t stop.

Good girl, you thought.

He stepped closer, something crunching under his foot, “I said-”

“I can't! She wont stop until on safe, or holding her leash.” You cut him off.

“Then grab her leash!” 

“I-”

“If I hear you say ‘I can’t’ one more time,” It was his turn to cut you off “I’m going to put a bullet through you and your dog.”

“I’m sorry, but I don't know where it is!” You pleaded with him.

“You don’t-” You could hear the frustration in his voice. “It’s right there, dumbass!”

“I can’t see, dumbass!” You retaliated.

“What are you blind?” The man asked ironically.

“Yes.” You sassed and glared at what you thought was your captor.

“Oh, so you want to be a smartass. What do you have to say about this?” He pushed the gun onto your head. You screamed again, and tried to shy away, but he pulled you back to it. “Now, you don’t have to see to know what this is. Give me your money!”

You reached around for anything that felt like your wallet, knowing that your purse had spilled everything everywhere. You found it, and shakily tried to hand it over, but nobody took it.

“What the fu-” The burglar started.

Out of nowhere, you heard a projectile being thrown. It whizzed past you and hit someone. The burglar and his gun were practically thrown away from you. A few seconds later, you felt Penny’s fur against your face, she was still barking.

“Penny.” You held onto her and patted her head. “Penny, hush.”

After that first sound, nothing else came that you could hear, not even the footsteps of the person who lightly touched your shoulder.

You screamed again and immediately started punching in that direction. As a reaction, Penny lurched forward at who you thought was the burglar.

“Y/n, it’s me.” The man caught your arms to stop you from hitting him, then also stopped your feet when you started kicking.

“Who is ‘me’? I don’t know you!” You screamed at the newcomer, who definitely wasn’t the first burglar, but you could never be too careful.

“Bucky.” He answered and you were still confused. “I’m Steve’s friend… We met in the hallway when you were leaving last week.”

At the sound of Steve’s name, you relaxed, and tensed again. “How do I know it’s you?”

“You have to trust me?” He sounded unsure of himself. That definitely didn’t ensure your own confidence.

You pursed your lips, “Well, you’ll have to forgive me if i’m running low on trust right now…”

Silence fell between you.

Your eyes were still wide with fright, your heart still beating like a drum.

“I’m trying to help you.” He said softly.

You clenched your jaw in concentration. You were so shaken up, you couldn’t think, “Your head.”

“What?”

You sighed, you hated doing this but it was the only thing you could think about, “Give me your head, for a sec.”

He let go of your wrist and led your hand to his head with a gloved hand that felt off in some way that you still couldn’t pinpoint. You felt his face. His sharp jawline and up into his hair to find it the same length and lastly you felt a baseball cap on top of his head.

You noticed that “Bucky” wasn’t screaming in pain and that Penny wasn’t growling and barking anymore, but instead standing calmly next to you. This gave you a last push of confidence. She thought you were safe, and from what you could tell, you were pretty sure the man trying to help you was Bucky.

“Okay…” You trailed. “Help me up, please.”

Bucky helped you onto your feet and tapped your arm just as Steve had one the week earlier. You reached down and took Penny’s leash from his hand. He got on the other side of you and started to guide you forward, bending down to pick up all the things you had dropped earlier and putting them back into your bag. The two of you started to turn a corner when you stopped.

“Wait.” You nodded your head back to where you came. “What about him?”

“He’ll still be there by the time the cops get here, trust me.” Bucky said and the two of you kept walking until you got to your apartment door.

Bucky took your keys and unlocked your door for you, pushing it open. You looked up at him, being able to see him a bit in the light of the hallway.

You stepped forward and wrapped your arms around his torso. He tensed as soon as you hugged him, but relaxed as you laid your head on his chest, your body still shaking from the previous experience of that night.

“Thank you.” You felt tears welling in your eyes and you blinked them back, not wanting to wet his shirt.

He hesitantly wrapped his arms around you, returning your hug. “You’re… You’re welcome.”


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Realizing that you only have so long with your sight, you decide to go on a trip around the world to see all you ever wanted. You come home only to be the victim of a robbery. Will anyone save you?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In editing I thought that I cut 300 words not added 300. The second chapter is here!! Hope y’all enjoy. I really wanted to show Bucky’s POV to help y’all see the the things that you wouldn’t see in Y/n’s (the chapter is important please read).   
> WARNING: MENTIONS OF GUNS, HARM TO ANIMALS, THREATS, BLINDNESS, AND FIGHTING, MEDIUM CURSING, sOFT BUCKY

Steve had invited him over to his apartment to be able to relax and get away from the Avengers Towers. Bucky had been skeptical to accept, but after some coaxing he agreed. 

They stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few cases of beers that would do absolutely nothing for the two of them, but they still bought them anyways. 

The cashier stared at him from the moment he entered the door to the moment he left. She’d been too distracted by his infamously well-known face and--even more eye-catching--his metal arm. 

He had his glove on it, as usual when out in public and wore long sleeves with it in order to take attention away from it. No matter what he did, it didn’t seem to help. He was starting to get uncomfortable with her staring when Steve came to his rescue, as usual, taking away the attention and putting it on himself. 

“Ma’am?” Steve held out the money for the beers, and the cashier jumped back into reality, tearing her eyes away from Bucky. 

She took the money, and gave Steve back his change without a word, eyes still occasionally flickering back to Bucky. 

They continued on their way out of the store and started the walk back to Steve’s apartment complex. 

They were close, passing by a few bars, when Steve spoke up. “There’s someone I want you to meet.” 

“I don’t need you to set me up, Steve.” Bucky grumbled. A young couple walking towards them crossed the street, basically sprinting across the road.

“That’s not what I meant, Buck.” Steve shook his head. “Look, her name is Y/n, she lives across the hall from me.”

Bucky huffed.

“She’s really nice, Buck.” Steve defended.

“Yeah, maybe to you.” Bucky retorted.

A man, a few paces ahead of them stopped sweeping outside of his bar and quickly made his way inside. Bucky reached up and lowered his cap when he saw the very same man peeking through the blinds on his windows. Bucky looked away and pretended to ignore the man.

Steve ignored his comment. “I thought that after you met her, you would come join in on our game nights on Fridays.” 

Bucky didn’t answer, but instead shoved his hands in his pockets.

Steve sighed, “You can’t stay cooped up in the Tower all the time, Buck. You need to get out there, maybe make some friends-” 

“If you hadn't noticed, Steve, people aren’t exactly fighting to be my friend these days.” Bucky gestured around with his metal arm. 

“Well maybe they would be if you opened up a bit.” Steve tried to reason with Bucky. “Look, all I’m asking is for you to meet Y/n, come to one game night, and if you don’t like it, I won't bother you about this for at least another week.” 

The things the Winter Soldier did haunted him well into his recovery. He couldn’t blame the world for being scared of him. Hell, even he was scared of the Winter Soldier. He didn’t want to go back to that time. He was more than happy to leave it in the past. Unfortunately, that reputation took a toll on his social life--or lack thereof. For that reason, Bucky mostly kept to himself, only talking to a few people now and again. Per Steve’s suggestion, he tried dating once. That ended how you would think it did. Just like everyone else she was horrified to be set up on a date with him.

Though, Bucky knew that not everyone felt that way about him. He gave up on finding someone to spend the rest of his life with. 

He brought himself back to the conversation, seeing Steve looking at him with raised eyebrow. 

“Make it two and we have a deal.” Bucky smirked. 

Steve smiled and laughed reaching up placing a comforting hand on Bucky’s shoulder.

Bucky looked towards him and smiled. In the corner of his eye, he caught sight of a dark alley as they were passing by it. In the dark he saw a man leaning against the wall smoking a cigarette. Everything about the guy told Bucky he was no good, but he decided to leave him alone. He wasn’t messing with anyone, therefore it wasn’t his business. Bucky put the guy in the back of his mind, and kept walking with Steve into the building, and up the elevator. 

\---

The elevator doors opened on the fifth floor of the six floor building. The walls of the hallway were lined with brick, a stairwell right in front of them with black railing. Small lights were lighting up the hallway in between every door even with the daylight streaming through the windows on both ends of the hallway. There were only a few doors on the floor. Maybe four at the most. No doors were directly in front of the other. 

Bucky followed Steve out of the elevator and to the left towards the apartment. Bucky hoped that Y/n wouldn’t be home today so that he wouldn’t have to deal with someone else terrified to be in his presence. Bucky’s hopes where squashed when a door in the hallway opened and a woman stepped out with a medium sized suitcase rolling behind her.

Steve and Bucky kept walking towards the woman. Steve completely confident in his stride, Bucky trying to make himself as small as possible. He thought about what Steve had told him about her, other than ‘she’s nice’ and realized Steve hadn't told him anything else, so he took this time to study her. 

Her h/c hair was pulled up into a ponytail. She was wearing comfortable clothes and worn tennis shoes. From her portfolio, Bucky thought that she was pretty. She had a tan tote bag on her shoulder that supported some kind of company, and carried airplane tickets in the other hand. Bucky turned his head to the side, trying to read the font, and saw that they said Tokyo on them. One for her and a few papers for... a dog?

Just as Bucky posed the question in his head, the woman whistled and a dog came running out of her apartment and stood next to her. She went into her bag and brought out keys. She bent over and closely looked at the lock on the door, trying and missing the keyhole with the key on multiple tries. 

Steve and Bucky came to a stop quietly next to her, and Steve spoke up first. The girl had apparently either not have seen or heard them walk up because she jumped out of her skin as soon as Steve spoke.   
She put a hand to her heart and looked directly at Steve. “Steve, you scared me.” She told him and he chuckled.  
“Sorry, thought you heard me.” Steve apologized, then bent down to her dogs level and held his hand out for her to come forward. “Hey, Penny.”  
The dog, Penny, stepped forwards and Steve scratched behind her ear. Her tail wagged happily. Bucky was pretty sure that Steve wasn’t supposed to be petting a Service Dog but the woman shook her head and said that it was okay before he could say anything. He looked back up to her, but to his surprise, she still wasn’t looking at him.   
Bucky thought it weird. Usually, people couldn’t take their eyes off of him, and not in the good way. It felt weird not to be stared at. No, not weird. Good. It felt good.   
She gestured to the lock and shook her keys, continuing her sentence. “...I was focused on the task at hand.”   
Bucky’s eyebrows furrowed. The way she said that sentence it felt as if the “it’s okay” she said wasn’t directed at him. He began to think that she still hadn't even noticed him standing there.   
Yes, Bucky could make himself unnoticeable. It was easy, really, but he wasn’t trying now. He was standing right there for Pete’s sake!   
Steve looked up at the keys and took them from her hand, standing up, and stepping in between her and the door, “I’ll help you with that.”  
Penny followed after him, her tongue sticking out, clearly wanting more of Steve’s attention, completely ignoring Bucky’s presence also. He felt completely invisible.  
The woman smiled, her eyes focusing on the spot Steve was only moments before, “Steve you don’t have to, I got it. I’m not blind... yet.”  
That’s when it clicked and Bucky felt horrible. He’d criticized her not being able to see him when she probably actually couldn’t. His shoulders dropped and he shuffled his feet.   
Suddenly, she looked up and caught sight of Bucky, reeling for a moment before saying, “Oh! H-Hi. Sorry, I didn’t see you there!”  
Bucky waited for the other shoe to drop, for her to realize who he was, be disgusted, scared, any of the generic reactions someone had to meeting him really, but none of them ever happened. Instead, she smiled.   
She gave him a smile, and stared a bit, but not like the others. There wasn’t fear in her eyes or anything uncomfortable in her body language. Besides, Bucky couldn’t really say anything about staring when he’d probably been staring at her for the past few minutes. Her eyes flickered up to his hat and then down to his gloved hand--her expression a little confused before she focused on his face again.   
Steve locked the door and turned back to Bucky and the Y/n.   
“Oh, yeah. This is my friend Bucky. Bucky, Y/n.” Steve introduced the two of them. Confirming that she was the woman Steve told him about, and that he hadn't been calling her the wrong name in his head for the past few minutes. Bucky noted how Steve tapped her arm and she reached right under to take back her keys.  
Y/n reached her other hand out for him to shake. Bucky was a little taken aback. There was hardly a time in which anyone wanted to shake hands with him, much less initiate the contact.   
“Nice to meet ‘ya.” She smiled again and Bucky came to admire it.   
He looked down to her hand, realizing that the hand she held out was her left one, equivalent to his metal one. He hesitated a moment, not wanting to hurt her accidentally before reaching out and lightly shaking her hand back. He didn’t say anything, but nodded instead. He instantly regretted the decision. He should have spoke to you, but it was too late, and even if it wasn’t he wouldn't know what to say. It was times like this when he wished it was the 40’s and he had no trouble speaking to people.  
The silence crept over the three of them, and Steve looked to Bucky as if to be saying “SAY SOMETHING! ANYTHING! BE NICE!! MAKE A FRIEND!!!”, but Bucky’s words were caught in his throat. He kept going to say something, then thought the better of it. It was an excruciating minute of silence before Y/n broke it herself.   
“Well, I have to go.” She turned to grab her suitcase and Steve quickly shook his head at Bucky in disapproval, stopping when Y/n turned back around. Ready to leave. The two men stepped aside to let her through. She furrowed her brows and hesitantly walked forward, holding her hands in front of her as if trying to not bump into something.  
“I’ll be back in a week or so, Steve.” Seeming to get more confident as she passed, turning her head to look and smile at Bucky again before she kept walking past them. “Hope to see you soon, Bucky.”  
Bucky almost smiled back when he felt something nudging at his foot. He looked down to see Y/n’s dog, Penny, sniffing his leg, before looking up to him. Bucky felt as if he needed to wave as the dog just stared at him.   
“Come on, Penny.” Y/n called and Penny looked at him for another moment. Y/n whistled again and patted her thigh, giving Penny a physical command, and she immediately followed her owner into the elevator. Y/n waved goodbye and the doors shut in front of her.   
“You didn’t say anything!” Steve pointed out the obvious, disappointed in his friend for not making an effort to get to know Y/n.  
Bucky put his hands up, “You forgot to tell me she was blind!” 

“Did I?” Steve acted like he would actually be able to forget something like that. 

“Yes, you did.” Bucky sighed as they got to Steve’s door. Steve put his own key in and turned the lock, entering first and Bucky followed behind. 

“So, other than that, what did you think of her?” Steve went over to his kitchen counter and set out the beer. 

“She’s nice.” Bucky smiled at the memory of you. You gave him a different feeling than other people did. When you smiled, it wasn’t fake or forced. It was genuine. “She’s different. I like her.” 

That comment brought a wide smile to Steve’s face. He seemed relieved and prideful. 

“What?” Bucky questioned, sitting down on Steve’s couch, getting comfortable.

Steve shook his head, “Nothing. I just wanted to you to meet her Buck. You did good.” 

\---

The cashier was staring at him again. 

She had just finished checking out an old lady who’s groceries were stacked high in her car. The lady was now trying to get said groceries into her cart, and the cashier’s only focus was on Bucky as she scanned the beer and snacks he had grabbed for Game Night tonight. 

He sent a tight lipped smile her way and tried to pass over the money for the beer and snacks. She jumped away and Bucky recoiled. He looked around to see a man and a woman next to him trying to act normal, though their body language screamed ‘we’re scared’. 

Bucky felt trapped, all eyes on him, and like always he felt like the bad guy. He didn’t know what to do, so he turned and began to walk away before the old lady next to him spoke up. 

“Missy, do your job and take the man’s money. He’s not doing anything to hurt you.” The woman defended, then turned and addressed the couple next to Bucky. “All of you too focused on him to see that I’m over here struggling to pick up these heavy bags. What’s wrong with you? No more manners, this generation.”

“Of course, ma’am, I’m apologize.”

“Don’t apologize to me.” 

The cashier hesitantly turned to Bucky, now having a hard time looking at him, “I’m sorry, sir.” 

“Don’t worry about it.” Bucky said, silently thanking the old woman for standing up for him. He handed his money over and the cashier took it and passed him his bag. Bucky quietly thanked her and took it in one hand, and began to help the old woman with the other. 

The lady was ecstatic to have someone help her and thanked him by digging out a bunch of candies from her purse, and giving them to him, before reaching up to pat his cheek with a smile before leaving the store.

\-----------------

Heading to the store, the streets had been filled with cars trying to get home. Heading back, the cars were replaced with people heading for bars, and clubs. Bucky stopped before meeting the crowds and looked up into the sky. He could hardly see the stars because of the New York lights, but enjoyed the sight anyways. 

Bucky’s phone buzzed, and he patted down his pockets, trying to find it. He moved the bag from the store to his other hand and patted his other side, finding the phone in his jacket pocket. He pulled it out of his hoodie and pressed the green button picking up the call.

“Buck?” Steve asked, never sure if Bucky was on the other end or not. He never spoke first. 

“Hm?” Bucky replied, continuing his way to Steve’s place, waiting for Steve to continue.

“Y/n came back in town last night.” Steve said, sparking Bucky’s memory. 

Y/n. 

Bucky thought about the woman he had met about a week ago along with the promise he made Steve. He promised to meet and participate in a Game Night with her. Though, Bucky secretly hoped that she would have been gone long enough to miss Game Night, giving him more time to prepare for the scrutiny he was sure would come after she figured out who he is. 

He spent most of her absence thinking of explanations. The only thing that came to mind was that she didn’t know who he was, or what he did what he did as the Winter Soldier. It was the only logical conclusion.

Honestly, Bucky just wanted to get this over with. He knew what Y/n was going to think about him and there was no use to trying to avoid it. Besides, if he didn’t like it, Steve wouldn’t bother him about his social life for two more weeks, so, win win.

Without a reply, Steve continued, “I was wondering if on your way back that you could stop by her apartment and invite her over.”

“Can’t you do it?” Bucky asked, his anxiety spiking. He hardly made it through the store by himself, he didn’t have it in him to ask you over to play games in Steve’s apartment. 

“No, Buck, I’m watching….” Steve trailed off and Bucky knew that he was thinking of any excuse to force his friend to socialize. “...dinner. Yes, dinner. I don’t want to burn down my apartment.” 

Bucky scoffed, not buying the whole dinner thing. Steve couldn’t cook for the life of him. Still, Bucky knew that he wouldn’t win this argument so decided not to argue any longer. 

“Is that a yes?” Steve asked. 

“Yes.” Bucky replied reluctantly and began walking towards the crowds again, following the sounds of music, glasses clinking and the faint sounds of a dog barking.

“Good, I’ll see you in a few minutes.” Steve hung up, not giving Bucky anytime to take back what he said he was going to do. Which Bucky wished he did. Cause he did not know what he was going to say to you once he reached your door. 

\----

As Bucky came closer to Steve’s apartment, the sounds in and around the bars increased. People crowded outside of the bars talking to their friends about their day, or small discussions that made the entire group laugh when someone made another point. 

He looked inside one of the bars and saw people having a good time with friends. He smiled at the sight of a few guys cheering and raising up glasses. A memory itched at the back of his mind that he couldn’t quite put his finger on as he passed the bar and made he way down the street. 

Passing through the crowd, he earned his share of stares.Bucky kept his head down and tried his best to make it to Steve’s apartment without being forced into a confrontation by someone who was sober, much worse, drunk. Thankfully, the crowd thinned out until there was almost no one else on the street. Away from the rowdy noises on that block, he could now hear the barking dog clearly. It sounded like he was getting closer to it, so he looked up to see it, and avoid it if it incase it was rabid. 

Ahead of him the dog was pacing in front of a dark alley and yapping it’s head off. It didn’t look like it was rabid but kept looking around as if it was trying to get attention. Bucky stopped, unsure of what the situation was, deciding to figure it out before getting involved. He noticed that it’s leash was dragging on the floor beside it. 

If the dog had a leash and a collar, where was its owner? Bucky thought.   
He stepped forwards, faintly hearing talking the closer he got until he could hear the conversation clearly enough to stay hidden just in case. He was still trying to figure out what was going on. Something told him it was nothing good. 

“-up!” A man commanded, his voice not loud but urgent.

“Penny, hush!” A woman shakily said, her voice familiar to Bucky. 

The man spoke again, this time more angry, “I said-”

“I can't!” The woman cut him off, and tried to frantically explain something to him that Bucky could catch. In fact the conversation seemed to fade out--to the point that he couldn't hear it at least. 

Bucky tried to remember the name he heard earlier. 

Penny. 

Why did that sound so familiar to him? 

Bucky looked back at the dog and everything clicked. This was the same dog he met last week. Y/n’s dog. 

Y/n! 

That was Y/n’s voice he was hearing, and she sounded like she was in trouble. He needed to do something.

Bucky slowly set down the bag in his hand, and picked a bottle of beer out of the pack. He quietly moved along the wall towards the alley. Penny noticed him and started to patter towards him, still barking, trying to catch his attention. Bucky put his hands up to stop her and she stopped, staying at the entrance of the alley. 

She stopped barking long enough for Bucky to hear the man say, “I’m going to put a bullet through you and your dog.” 

Now Bucky knew for sure that she, Y/n, was in trouble. He breathed in and out, keeping his calm. Penny, on the other hand, did the exact opposite. She ran into the alley, as if she knew what a bullet was.

Bucky could hear her pleading with the man as he tried to make it to the alley quietly. He needed to time this right, or Y/n could get hurt. 

Bucky couldn’t help but think about how crazy this was. He met Y/n a week earlier and now he was here about to save her. Bucky liked to think different, but if he hadn't met Y/n, he probably would have kept walking with the mentality that since the guy wasn’t threatening him, it wasn’t his problem.

He shook the thought from his head and refocused on the armed robbery going on in front of him.

“You don’t- It’s right there, dumbass!” Bucky could tell that the man was becoming frustrated, and someone who’s frustrated who also has a gun pointed at someone can not end well.

“I can’t see, dumbass!” Y/n retorted, angrily, courageously sassing the person aiming to rob and kill you. 

Bucky approached the opening of the alley, and peaked inside. Y/n was on the ground, kneeling with her hands up, eyes looking frighteningly everywhere like she wasn’t sure what to focus on. The man pointing the gun at you was also familiar, and Bucky recognized him from the alley the first time he came over to Steve’s apartment. 

“What are you blind?” The man asked ironically. He had his gun pointed right at Y/n, if Bucky was to step in right now, he was sure you would end up hurt--or worse. Bucky pushed another thought to the back of his mind as she sassily replied yes to the robber’s rhetorical question, glaring at the man, finally being able to find him.

“Oh, so you want to be a smartass. What do you have to say about this?” The robber pushed the gun onto her head. She screamed again, and tried to shy away, but he pulled you back to it using her hair. “Now, you don’t have to see to know what this is. Give me your money!” 

Bucky knew that it was now or never. He stepped out into the entrance of the alley, immediately catching the attention of the robber. 

He raised the hand clutching the bottle, and threw it with deadly accuracy at the robber.

“What the fu-” The bottle whizzed past Y/n’s head, right in front of her eyes, and hit the robber’s hand forcing him to let go of it. Bucky charged forwards and tackled the man to the ground before the burglar could even comprehend what was happening. The force of the hit caused them to land a few feet away from Y/n. Bucky and the robber hit the ground and his head hit the concrete, with a dull thud. Bucky sat up and looked at him, seeing--hoping--that he was unconscious.

Penny continued to bark at the robber--or maybe she was barking at Bucky now. Bucky looked over to them. Y/n held Penny close to her, her face clearly frightened. She didn’t know he was here. She didn’t know what he’d done. He could leave now. Tell Steve--oh crap, what was he going to tell Steve. No matter, he just need to leave before she knew he was there. 

Bucky stood up and began to make his way from the alley quietly.

“Penny...” She held on to her dog and patted her head. “Penny, hush.” 

Penny stopped barking as Bucky stopped in front of her. She was still looking around for any sign of danger. Scared to move from her spot. 

She can make her way back home, his head thought, trying to convince him. 

But you can’t just leave her there. Something else could happen, his conscience chimed in. 

Bucky tsked, knowing that his conscience was right. He squatted in front of Y/n, he reached out to lightly tap her shoulder. 

Y/n screamed again, her hands lurching forward to fight who she probably thought was the robber. Penny jumped out of the way as Bucky caught your arms, easily avoiding her flailing punches. That’s when she started kicking as well. 

Bucky thought of what to say and shouted the first thing that came to mind, “Y/n, it’s me!”

“Who is ‘me’? I don’t know you!” Y/n screamed at him. Not giving up the fight, even after Bucky caught both of her arms and held them still. Bucky was impressed that she still wasn’t giving up even after being incapacitated.

“Bucky.” He answered and saw that she was still confused. He continued to clarify. “I’m Steve’s friend… We met in the hallway when you were leaving last week.” 

Y/n seemed to relax hearing Steve’s name but tensed again seconds later, not letting her guard down. “H-How do I know it’s you?” 

“You have to trust me?” He said with a unsure tone. He couldn’t blame her, he wouldn’t trust himself in this situation.

She pursed her lips, and raised an eyebrow, “Well, you’ll have to forgive me if i’m running low on trust right now…” 

Silence fell between the two of them. It wasn’t awkward like the last time they talked, but instead, tense. Bucky’s thoughts raced, trying to figure out how to convince her to trust him. He looked to Penny for help, and as he expected, got nothing but a wagging tail and a tongue hanging out of her mouth. Bucky sighed. Ready for this night to be over already.

“I’m trying to help you.” He said softly, trying his best to instil a feeling of trust into the tense atmosphere.

She blinked and let out a shaky breath, “Your head.” 

“What?” Bucky was confused.

Y/n sighed, “Give me your head for a sec.” 

Bucky let go of her legs and led her hand to his head with his gloved one, kneeling and leaning forwards so that she could reach better. Y/n felt his face along his jawline then up into his hair, making her way up to the baseball cap on top of his head. He was confused on why she was doing this but didn’t question it. If it got her to trust him for enough time for him to make sure that she was safe, then so be it. 

Y/n stopped at his cap and let her hands fall into her lap. The tension dropped from her shoulders. 

“Okay…” She trailed, nodding her head. Bucky assumed that she believed that he was who he said he was. “Help me up, please.” 

Bucky helped Y/n onto your feet, grabbing Penny’s leash on the way up. Bucky tried to hand it to her, before realizing that she probably couldn’t see in this dim light. He thought about how to give the leash to her, and remembered how Steve had given her keys to her a week earlier. 

He tapped her arm.

Y/n reached down and took Penny’s leash from his hand. He moved to her other side, and started to guide her out of the alley, bending down to pick up the contents of her spilled bag, and put them back inside of it. The two started to turn a corner when Y/n stopped. 

“Wait.” Y/n nodded her head back to where they came from, and asked, “What about him?” 

Bucky looked back to the unconscious man lying in the alley, then looked to Y/n. He had almost forgotten about him. Bucky thought of what to say. 

“He’ll still be there by the time the cops get here, trust me.” Bucky said and continued to guide her back to her apartment. Not saying another word. 

Bucky took Y/n’s keys from her bag and unlocked the door for her, pushing it open. He dropped his arm and waited for Y/n to enter. She looked up at him, her eyes finally being able to see him in the lit hallway. Bucky looked away, thinking that if she looked him in the eyes she would be able to tell what he did. 

Irrational, yes, but that didn’t stop him from thinking it.

To his surprise, Y/n stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his torso. Bucky tensed and put his hands up in surprise as she hugged him, confused on why she would be hugging him. Instead of letting him go she only hugged him tighter and laid her head on his chest, her body still shaking from what she just experienced. Bucky slowly relaxed, lowering his arms.

“Thank you.” Y/n whispered, fighting back a sob. 

Bucky hesitantly wrapped his arms around her, returning the hug. “You’re… You’re welcome.” 

As he stood there in the hallway, hugging her back, Bucky knew that he didn’t want to leave her. The crazy thing was he hardly knew her.

\----

Bucky stood outside of Steve’s apartment after making sure that Y/n was okay and going back to the alley to check on the robber. After realizing what he had done, Bucky immediately raced back here to Steve’s door. He thought of running away but that never proved good for him for as long as he could remember. He took in a breath and knocked. 

“Hold on!” Steve said from the other side of the door. He heard Steve’s footsteps approaching from the other side of the door, and the lock turn. The door opened and Bucky rushed inside, dropping the grocery bag on the kitchen counter, retrieving it from the alley.

He stopped and turned back to Steve, not knowing what to say or even how to say it, but he needed to. He needed to tell Steve before anyone else found out.

“Hey, Buck. You were out for a long time.” Steve looked back outside the door. “Where’s Y/n?” 

“In her apartment.” Bucky answered, he kept opening and closing his fist; a nervous tick. 

“Oh.” Steve looked back at Bucky. “Is she just not coming?” 

Steve saw the look on Bucky’s face. Nervous, ready to run, hide, and fight off whoever he needed to do it. The last time he saw Bucky like this was in Bucharest and then again when he moved into Avengers Tower. 

“Hey, what’s up?” Steve stepped back inside and closed the door behind him. 

“I…” Bucky trailed off. No matter how he phrased it in his head everything sounded wrong. 

“Bucky.” Steve stepped forwards, eyebrows knitted together in concern.

“I didn’t mean to kill him Steve.” Bucky breathed out. “I swear.”


End file.
